The Vitals

What happens when a suburban girl marries a country boy? Craziness, that's what. I have a husband (A.), three sons (Cubby, Charlie, and Jack), and a MiL. We all live in a very big, very old house we call Blackrock. On our six acres in upstate New York, we have two dogs and a cat. No livestock at the moment, unless you count the children. Welcome to the insanity of Blackrock.

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Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Beasts of Blackrock

First things first: The lake did not freeze. It was about two degrees all night, but there was just enough of a breeze to ripple the water and keep it from freezing. Bummer. Foiled again.

And on a related note, allow me to share with you a conversation A. and I had as we were getting ready for bed last night. A. had just checked the weather station in the back bedroom and discovered it was five degrees outside.

Sorry your lake did not freeze. Now that we live in the Pacific Northwest we keep the house much cooler than we did in Texas. I'm not sure why unless its because Oregon is such a "green" state and we hear so much about conserving energy. Personally, I like it cooler but my husband does't. We sit in different rooms so he can have his room warm. I keep my room cool. I am enjoying your blog.

keep our house pretty cold, resisting turning on the heat as long as possible. Now here in Dallas we see nothing like the cold you guys do. But it is colder here than I'm used to from living in Houston for 30 years.

Our house has a section that was built on and has a separate heating/cooling system. Its our den/tv/game room and I keep it warmer than the rest of the house. Even at night. Why would I shiver in an unheated bedroom while the unused den is a toasty 50 degrees? Because that is where I have all my tropical houseplants and pots brought in from outside. It is also where I have my seed starting shelves for the spring garden loaded down with tomato and pepper seedlings. Last year I realized my bougainvillea was dying and it dawned on my that my HOUSE was too cold for it!I might be willing to give up my ornamentals but don't want to lose my potted citrus trees or blueberry bush.

Now, when my daughter visits she sleeps on the couch instead of in the guest room!

We have a sunroom. This time of year we call it the ice room. We recently bought a small space heater to take the chill off in that room. That heater just happens to come with a thermostat, so we realized for the first time yesterday that our ice room is a frigid 58 degrees.